dragondeathlord One of the best Shows on television and One of the best episodes EVER! The new doctor is Witty as he is Hyper active! The Doctor fresh from regeneration is helpless as earth is invaded! But Rose is in the center stage as the aliens invade! She finds her self facing down the alien leader. And has to over come her fears and doubts as the man she come to love has been reborn as a total stranger! This episode more than any other establishes the future of the show!Lots of references in future episodes will come back to this show even up to current 3/13! So do not miss it! Or you will be wondering about the hand! Not to mention how vengeful a Time Lord can be with 7 WORDS!

bob the moo Fresh from a transformation, the Doctor and Rose return to Earth to spend Christmas with her family. However when trees and Santa's start playing up it is apparent that this is no ordinary Christmas and some sinister force is at work. Still in a weakened state, the Doctor loses consciousness and cannot be revived by Rose. Meanwhile a spaceship positions itself above London and uses some power to control a large section of the population and make them stand on high buildings, ready to jump. The Prime Minister is desperate but seems left with no option but to make a deal with the powerful Sycorax.I watched this special again last week on UK Gold, away from the hype and worry that came with it the first time round. This was the bridge between the "first" "new" series and the second or, more importantly, the bridge between Eccleston being the Doctor and David Tennant taking over the reins. As such there was always going to be an element of making that leap and then also the emphasis on Tennant making the role his own so that the new series could just start with the majority of the fuss over and done with. The first half of the special keeps the Doctor tucked away and builds the plot while also using this as a way of emphasising his entrance when it comes. The story is a good one which does more or less manage to bring in all the elements that the family audience (and big audience at that time of the year) requires. Although it is obviously restricted by the child element of the audience, the tension is built well and the aliens have a genuine threat. The spinning trees etc were all a bit silly but I suppose that does seem to come with the territory now.Of course the big thing in the special was Tennant and I have to say that this didn't win me over to him. As his seasons at the helm continue I have come to like him more but I suspect that has an element of me accepting him rather than him being brilliant. Here I felt he was too over-the-top and I wanted someone to tell him that just because it was Christmas it didn't mean he had to go over the top as if he was in panto at Blackpool. This is maybe a bit harsh but in the series he tends to get a mix of this and quieter stuff to work with to act as balance – for most of his short time here he does rather overplay it somewhat. Of course it works for the type of thing this special is aiming for but viewers who like their sci-fi to be a little darker will have been worried by his appearance in this manner – particularly coming after the slightly grittier turn from Eccleston. Piper continues to be as good as she was in her first season and it is to her credit that she does pick up well with her new co-star. Wilton Jones was good as the PM but Clarke's Mickey continues to grate somewhat.Overall then an good special that does the two things it sets out to do (entertain the family and get the new Doctor in the door and settled before the new season starts) and does it in a reasonable good way even if no one part of it is done really well. Fits well with the tone of the season that followed it though.

alissende I love this episode. It's one of my favorites. Here we see David Tennant for the first time as the tenth doctor( excluding the thirty seconds at the end of the parting of the ways). And he is brilliant. He is totally natural. The rest of the cast are very good as well. Billie Piper is also very natural as the doctor companion. The script is good, with some brilliant lines (see quotes page). The pass of the episode is good, with a good lot of action ( the crash landing tardis, the attack of the father Christmases and the Christmas tree, the sword fight..) but not too much, and there is no excessive violence. In fact there is practically no violence, in less you include the sword fight, and even there everything is kept proper: no blood. We also hear what I think are is the first reference to Torchwood. The episode keeps up until the very end To sum it up, i say go and watch this episode as soon as you can.

trekkstr I wonder if the character of Danny Llewellyn is in reference to Robert Llewellyn who played the android "Kryten" on "Red Dwarf"? And major Blake of U.N.I.T. reference to "Blake" from 'Blake's Seven"? Just a thought. I will look for other references as time goes on.I really liked this episode. One it brought back U.N.I.T. and mentioned the spin off show, Capt Jack will be part of "Torchwood". I hope U.N.I.T. will be part of the show more often as they were with the second and fourth doctors. It will be good to see Capt Jack back as part of his own spin-off show. A very different character type that you don't see in any "Dr. Who" episodes. Trekkstr